Naoko
by IamHamster
Summary: The story of a baby stolen from her home by the Akatsuki. please read i suck at summaries. Rated T for language etc in future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Naruto or it's characters, the only thing I own are my OC's among other things. **

**I had to put this as the first page just to get it out of the way. Anyway I hope you enjoy the story. RxR please. **


	2. Birth

Land Of Birds

Pein's Deva path stared at the Takashi clan compound. It had been waiting there for the best part of two months, watching down from the mountain that loomed over the village. Tonight was the night it had been waiting for, the birth of a child, that possessed a rare and extremely powerful Kekkei Genkai; the Takajugan. The Deva paths expressionless face remained unchanged as it rapidly left the Land of Birds and handed towards Amegakure.

As the Deva path left its make-shift mountain home, an unsuspecting family rejoiced at the birth of the newest family member. In a family with three sons, a baby girl was just the thing that their mother needed. Her father smiled as he cradled his precious daughter, she was the one that could bring their clan back to its former glory and he planed to use her to her full potential. Her face had already been tattooed with the clans marking, four lines descending from her eye, one grey, one blue, one red and one green. He ran his finger down the longest green line and his smile widened. His daughter would be a great ninja, he could feel it.

4 months earlier in Konohagakure…

Shikamaru sat in the Konoha hospital and fiddled with his fingers impatiently. Kurenai had been in that room for the last three hours and he was growing tired. He had thought of walking out and coming back the next day but decided his promise to Asuma was more important than sleep. Kiba was snoozing in the chair opposite him and Akamaru was lying on the floor beside him. So far Hinata and Shino had been sitting with him for an hour at a time, and now the Inuzuka boys shift was nearly over. Hinata walked up the hallway, looking at the floor and she played with the bouquet of flowers she had brought for her Sensei. "Hey Hinata, she's still in their, I don't know when she will be out" Shikamaru said making eye contact with the Hyuga. Hinata smiled shyly before gently waking Kiba who jerked up immediately. He rubbed his face and blinked at Hinata. "Yo…you can go now Kiba-kun" she stuttered. Kiba yawned and nodded.

"Thanks Hinata, tell me when she gets out, if not I'll be back in 2 hours I suppose" he said shrugging his shoulders lazily before walking away with his hands in his pockets "C'mon Akamaru".

The time went by agonizingly slowly and the lazy boy found himself once again looking and Shino's hidden features. Forty minutes into Shino's shift a nurse popped her head out the door. Shikamaru and Shino quickly turned and looked in anticipation.

"It's over, it's a healthy baby boy" she said smiling at Shino before walking off down the corridor. The bug boy stood and nodded at Shikamaru. "I'm going to get Hinata and Kiba" he mumbled under his jacket. Shikamaru nodded back and approached the door.

He stepped in and immediately Kurenai looked at him and beckoned him over. A small boy with a tuft of black hair blinked up at him. Shikamaru gulped. "Your team were taking it in turns to wait for you, Shino just went to tell them the news and they'll be over soon…so…what are you going to call him?" he asked his hands behind his back, Shikamaru wasn't that great with kids and he felt nervous being around one so tiny. Kurenai smiled "I thought I would call him, Asuma" she replied stroking his face. Shikamaru blinked back the tears and smiled down at the child. Asuma.

Land of birds

The Father kissed his wife on the cheek and kissed his new daughters forehead. "I'll be back tonight" he said hugging his wife again. "Come along Ichiro" he said turning to the 15 year old that lingered in the doorway. The young boy scurried over and hugged his mother before following his father. The mother smiled as she put the newly born infant in her crib. She looked down adoringly at the child until she heard a voice calling for her at the front door; she looked down one more time and whispered a few words before walking away.

Pein slipped in through the open window and loomed menacingly over the child. He grinned wickedly; opening her eyes to see her Kekkei Genkai and make sure it was the real deal. It was. He cradled her in one of his log arms and slided unheard out of the house. One he was outside in the cool summers breeze he handed the bundle to a waiting Konan, who had previously been meditating on a rock, before having the child thrust into her arms. She looked down and stroked her face. "What's her name?" she whispered jumping after Nagato.

"I don't know you name it" He replied emotionlessly.

"How about Aiko?" she asked.

"Aiko, it means little loved one, she's going to grow up with the Akatsuki I hardly think that's a suitable name Konan."

"Fine, what about, Naoko, it means obedient child, that's what you want her to be right?"

Pein pondered for it for a moment before nodding. "Hurry Konan we need to get back quickly before they notice she's gone."


	3. Beach Trip

5 years later in Konoha

Little Asuma tightly gripped Shikamaru's hand as the 21 year old Shinobi lead the young boy toward Konoha beach. Shikamaru's other hand was tucked in his pocket and a lazy smile spread across his face as the child swung from his arm. "C'mon Asuma were going to be late and Temari's going to get mad at me" he pleaded with the boy. He giggled playfully before running off and jumping on the rocks that lined their path. "It's okay Shika, Temari won't slap you if I'm there!" he shouted grabbing the attention of a near by Naruto and Sauske. "Troublesome" He muttered under his breath. Naruto always enjoyed teasing Shikamaru because Temari was clearly the dominant one in their relationship, Shikamaru didn't mind that Temari was more in control than he, but he didn't like the constant mocking he received from the blonde ninja. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes and continued onward towards the beach, passing the small shack where _his_ blonde kunoichi was swinging on a bar stool. He smiled and waved at her as she sensually slid off the stool and walked over to him. As she got closer her smile faded and transformed into a look of annoyance; she always got mad when he was late. Shikamaru looked like a rabbit caught in a headlight as he looked around desperately for something to distract Temari. Fortunately for Shikamaru the young Asuma was running past at just that moment. Shikamaru took advantage of this opportunity and grabbed the boy, before dangling him in front of Temari. "LOOK! IT'S ASUMA! ISN'T HE CUTE! HERE, TAKE HIM!" he screamed enthusiastically shoving him into her arms before running off toward the sea. Temari held tight to Asuma as they chased the lazy boy into the sea.

Deidara, was not happy, in fact, not happy was an understatement, he was distraught. While his partner Sasori was out on an important mission with Kisame, he was tasked with taking the little annoyance to the beach with Itachi. Both he and the Uchiha bastard had their heads down with large Akatsuki hats hiding their faces. Deidara thought that this was the stupidest idea ever thought off; two S-class missing Nins taking a child to the beach. They were bound to be noticed by the many ninja's taking a break on this fine summer's day and besides, they were meant to be Akatsuki for heavens sake, they were meant to be an evil organisation, feared by many ninja lands, yet they still found time to take a little girl to the beach. Not only that, but while Itachi strolled ahead with only the light little one clinging to his back, he was stuck hauling all of the heavy beach equipment. Once they reached the sandy shore Itachi kicked off his sandals and walked over to a small spot hidden in a gap within the rocks that lines the end of the beach. The little girl jumped gracefully down from his back and immediately ran off giggling toward the sea. Deidara trudged up to the spot Itachi had found and dumped the stuff before grunting in displeasure. Itachi rummaged through the bag and turned to Deidara. "Sun cream?" he asked offering Deidara the bottle. Deidara snorted and slumped down against a rock while Itachi applied his sun cream and set up.

Asuma dipped his toes in the rock pools and giggled as the small fish nibbled his feet. Shikamaru had been taking him to the beach since he was one and Asuma always enjoyed and looked forward to the trip. He seemed to enjoy it even more since Temari had joined them as it seemed to make his Shika happier. He glanced over to see Shikamaru and Temari napping in each others arms. He didn't see the appeal of girls yet, being five, but that day one girl had sparked his curiosity. She had shoulder length black hair with blue-ish highlights, and four coloured lines descending down her face from her left eye, he also noticed that her eyes were a strange colour; jet black with a strange golden patter around a white pupil. Not only did her strange face markings and eyes interest him, but the people she was with also grabbed his attention. Two strange men; hidden by large hats. One was wearing plain black swimming shorts and a white tank top and the other was wearing just red swimming shorts. The small girl would run into the sea and disappear beneath the waves for minuets at a time, before resurfacing and running back to the men. He didn't know what she was doing but he wanted to find out.

Naoko sprinted from the sea back to Itachi. "ITA, ITA LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" she squealed excitedly. Itachi turned away from the sleeping Deidara that had I'm gay written in sun cream on his chest and faced the little one. She handed the man his fifteenth shell of the day. This one swirled round and had an intricate pattern covering it. "It's like Tobi" she announced pointing at it and smiling.

"It is I'll put it with the others ok?" he said throwing it into a rapidly growing pile of sea shells. She smiled again and ran back towards the sea. She was halfway down the beach when she noticed the boy looking at her. He had messy black hair and chocolate brown eyes. She came to halt and looked up curiously at the boy. She smiled widely and he smiled back. "Hi" she said waving vigorously.

"Hi" he replied.

"I'm Naoko what's your name?"

"Asuma"

"Wanna be friends?"

"Ok"

Shikamaru woke up to find Temari sleeping against his chest. He smiled and scoured the beach for Asuma. He spotted him atop of the rock pools with a young girl, looking intently at something. He gently nudged Temari. "I'm going to see what Asuma's doing ok?" he asked stroking her hair out of her face. She nodded before rolling onto her stomach and going back to sleep. He got up and approached the youngsters before leaping onto the rock and crouching opposite the two children. "Hey guys, what you doing?" he asked.

"Hey Shika, we're trying to catch a fish" Asuma replied pointing at a small colourful fish that was poking its head out from under the safety of a rock. After Asuma said this the girls hand plunged into the water. Almost as soon as it had entered the small pool she had withdrawn it to see if she had been successful. She hadn't and she glared irritably at the fish. Shikamaru was impressed at her speed. "Here try this" he said pulling off a small string of thread from his shirt and tying it around a piece of seaweed. He handed it to the girl and she smiled at him. She dipped it in the water and waited for the unsuspecting fish to nibble on it. It edged closer and closer until the weed disappeared into its mouth. Water showered Shikamaru as the girl whipped the fish out of the pool and into Asuma's waiting hands. Asuma smiled at the girl and she gave him a thumbs up.

Temari and Shikamaru had moved over to the beach shack for a drink before they returned Asuma to Kurenai. They looked at the two children who where leaning against each others backs, snoozing peacefully. "It's so cute" said Temari stirring her drink.

"They've been playing together all afternoon" Shikamaru added. Shikamaru and Temari then turned their attention to a man who had just appeared from behind a rock. He strolled over the girl and tapped her on the head. The man was red all over except for the pale skin on his chest that spelled I'm gay. He said something and then she turned and shook Asuma. He woke and then stood up. The two children waved before the little girl ran after the man and grabbed his hand. The man grasped her wrist and lifted her onto his back where she resumed her nap. Asuma watched until they joined up with another man and walked away. He then turned and ran into Temari's arms. "Well kido, it's time to get you home" said Shikamaru ruffling Asuma's hair. He nuzzled Temari's neck and like the girl started to drift off to sleep. The sun was setting as they left the beach, leaving only a few couples watching the brilliant sunset.

**Sorry if that was really bad people, ****I'm really tired and it was just something I wanted to do. RxR PLEASE!**


	4. The Forest

Naoko: 9

Asuma: 10

**Forest**

The forest was silent except for the peculiar noise of wood hitting wood. An eerie mist snaked around the trunks of the trees and caressed the ankles of the weary travellers who glanced around trying to find the source of the noise. There was a low laugh and a giant metal tail shot out from the trees and speared the traveller's backpacks, causing the men to scream in shock. They quickly detached themselves from their backpacks and ran off down the path shouting and screaming as they went. Once the men could no longer be heard, the laughter subsided and two cloaked figures stepped out from the trees and onto the path.

One figure was medium height with a large hat which hid the person's features from view while the other was a tiny copy of the other. A large male appeared from the forest. He appeared to be hunched over and the large metal tail clearly originated from under his cloak. He pulled back his tail, taking the backpacks off of its spiked tip as it re-coiled.

"Heh, I got some lunch for you Naoko…" Sasori said in a menacingly low and gruff voice.

"Hn, you know she won't eat it un" Deidara scoffed. The little girl pulled out two kunai and proceeded in throwing them at the men. Sasori blocked the one aimed at him with his tail and retracted it in time to see Deidara jumping up and down with a pained expression and kunai sticking out of his thigh.

"ARGH NAOKO WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!" he screamed pulling out the kunai.

"I do eat you know, just not the crap you guys cook up" she said snatching the kunai off of Deidara "Give me that!" she ordered turning to Sasori and taking one of the backpacks. She rummaged through the bag and pulled out an apple and a medical kit. She threw the medical kit at Deidara before taking a vicious bite and turning her back on the two men.

"Un" he snorted, perching on a rock and wrapping the bandages around his leg so they covered his small wound "You've been away with Hidan and Kakuzu too long un".

**Konoha**

Asuma was sitting on a stall at Ichiraku, waiting patiently for Shikamaru to arrive and meet him for his promised meal out. The boys chocolate brown eyes scoured the street as he twisted round on his stool.

"Sorry I'm late" said Shikamaru, who had snuck up and taken the seat next to the boy while his attention was elsewhere, "Nightmare of a mission". Asuma smiled as Shikamaru ruffled his short black hair.

"What happened?" he asked, while the now elderly Teuchi handed him his already ordered bowl of ramen.

"A bowl of plain ramen for me please Teuchi" said Shikamaru, smiling at the old man before leaning his elbows on the counter and resting his head on his hands "Me, Naruto and TenTen were sent to the Land of Honey to find a group of fugitives and bring them back to the Land of Red Beans, it should have been easy but they had set a load of traps that Naruto walked right into and TenTen had to defuse before we could get any further" he said, rubbing his temples.

"HEY! SHIKAMARU, YOU'R BACK!" shouted a familiar voice. Before Shikamaru and Asuma could turn round Rock Lee had leapt onto a stall next to Asuma and ordered a bowl of Ramen. Asuma; finally remembering his now cooling ramen, stuck his chopsticks in the bowl and filled his mouth with as much noodles as possible.

"WHEN DID YOU GET BACK SHIKAMARU?!" shouted Lee.

"Well, we only arrived home about one ho..." he tried to reply.

"BECAUSE NEJI WANTED ME TO FIND OUT IF TENTEN WAS BACK YET AND I KNOW SHE WENT OUT WITH YOU AND NARUTO AND I HAVEN'T FOUND TENTEN OR NARUTO BUT KNOW I'VE FOUND YOU SO IT'S ALL GOOD!" he said beaming at Shikamaru, who had a long trail of noodles hanging from his mouth when Lee had finished.

"Lee please, keep your voice down" said Shikamaru swallowing his mouthful.

"Okay, so, do you know where TenTen is? If I don't get back and tell Neji soon then…" Lee shuddered as he finished his sentence.

"Neji Hyuga?" asked Asuma as he finished his ramen. Lee nodded. "He scares me" added Asuma.

"And that" said Shikamaru grabbing Asuma by the shoulder "Is why Lee needs to know that TenTen went with Naruto, Ino and Kiba to the nearest bar which is there" he finished pointing at a bar on the opposite street to where they were sitting.

"YOSH!" screamed Lee punching the air, Teuchi put the bowl of ramen down in front of Lee and he pushed it in front of Asuma. "Here my youthful friend, have my ramen" he said giving Asuma the good guy pose before running off into the bar. Asuma quickly grabbed Lee's bowl and began to eat.

"Shikamaru, Lady Tsunade is calling for you, there has been a report from some travelers of and attack that some suna-nin think sounds like Sasori of the Akatsuki, so we need to gather a team and search the path that they were attacked on. Do you know where everyone else is?" said Sakura, who was clearly stressed by this new situation. Shikamaru pointed to the bar and Sakura sighed. She walked off with her hands on her hip and into the now noisy bar. Shikamaru got up and yawned; he rummaged through his pocket and placed the money for the ramen on the counter. "Well, you heard Sakura, I've got to go, but, its getting dark so I'll walk you home first, okay?" he asked putting his hands behind his head and walking in the direction of Kurenai's flat.

**The Forest**

Sasori was still creating an irritating clanking noise as they approached a small clearing next to a gentle river. Deidara's eye was twitching and Naoko and Sasori where keeping their distance from the irritated blonde. Naoko; who was currently jumping through the trees, leapt down from her present position and into the clearing, turning to face the men before falling onto the floor and stretching. Deidara was the next to reach the clearing and he too fell to the floor next to the girl and let out a long sigh.

"Honestly, I can't believe you two are tired" scoffed Sasori.

"That's easy for you to say un, your made out of wood, you don't get tired" retaliated Deidara, sitting up and pointing at Sasori "And even though you don't get tired you've been sitting inside that puppet all day un, which by the way is broken"

"It is NOT broken" Sasori roared.

"It is too un, its making loads of noise, how are we meant to be stealthy if people can hear your bloody puppet all the way from Suna un" replied Deidara.

"Your butt makes lots of noise" shouted Sasori. Naoko rolled around on the floor, clutching her stomach and laughing at Sasori's last comment.

"Don't take the fact that your puppet is a pile of wooden shit out on me" yelled Deidara getting up and putting his hands into his bags of clay. Sasori's tail shot out from under his cloaked and headed for Deidara's chest. Deidara jumped out of the way and sent tiny clay spiders crawling over Sasori. He then made the hand sign as Sasori shook them off with his tail; causing them to blow up mid-air. "WELL DON'T TAKE THE FACT YOUR PMSING OUT ON ME THEN BITCH!" Sasori screamed as his tail went for Deidara again.

"THAT'S IT PINOCCHIO YOUR DEAD"

"PINOCCHIO!?" growled Sasori.

"YOU HEARD ME! AND DON'T SAY IM PMSING IN FRONT OF NAOKO SHE'LL NEVER LET ME FORGET IT!"

"Your right Deidara I won't" said the small child who was now standing next to the river and watching the on going fight, her arms folded across her chest and an amused smile plastered across her face.

"ARGGGHH" grunted Deidara.

"URGGGHHH" Replied Sasori, throwing the puppet (and subsequently himself) at the blonde, who in turn was lunging at the puppet master. Just when they were about to make contact and hit each other Naoko let out a loud "SHHHHHH". They stopped mid-air and fell silently (except for Sasori's clanking) to the ground. Deidara glared at Sasori before turning to Naoko. "Do you hear that?" she asked crouching down on her hands and feet so that she was just inches away from the ground.

"No, what is it?" asked Sasori, looking around.

"You probably can't hear over the noise of that blasted puppet" mumbled Deidara; earning him a punch in the am from Sasori.

"Shut the hell u…" Naoko tried to say, but was interrupted by a kunai that was heading straight for the centre of her chest. She did a handstand to avoid it before pushing herself into the air and landing on a low tree branch. The three Akatsuki members got themselves into their fighting stances.

The Forest (Konoha Nin's)

Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, TenTen, Naruto, Sauske, Shino, Hinata and a slightly drunk Kiba (along with Akamaru) leapt through the trees with great speed. Sasori had been supposedly sighted about two hours away from Konoha. The only three members of the Konoha 11 that where left behind where Ino, Choji and Sakura. Ino had fallen into Tsunade's office and thrown up over her newly cleaned floor thus deeming her unable to accompany them to catch the Akatsuki, Choji was away on another mission and Sakura had stayed behind to clean up Ino's mess and heal them when they got back. Shikamaru gulped hard. When Tsunade had said it to Sakura she had sounded certain that they were going to get injured, or worse killed. Neji, Lee and TenTen had all jumped down from the branches and landed on the ground. One by one the rest of the team followed.

"Byakugan" said Neji, activating his Kekkei Genkai "There are three people on the other side of the river up ahead"

"Three of them!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Is it definitely them Neji?" asked Lee.

"Yes, one of them is inside something"

"Sasori" muttered Sauske.

"How are we going to fight three of them?" asked TenTen looking around the group.

"We should split into teams" said Shikamaru, grabbing a stick and drawing three stick figures in the dirt "Neji, Lee and TenTen, you should take one of the other two, your attacks are pointless to use against Sasori's puppet armor"

"One of them was really small, like a child, the other was taller, I know for sure Kisame isn't among them, so I'd say the other one is either Itachi, Deidara or Hidan" added Neji.

"We should assume its Deidara, he's normally Sasori's partner" said Sauske folding his arms.

"Okay then, Neji, Lee, TenTen, You take Deidara, TenTen can distract him with her weapons while Neji and Lee get in range for an attack, Deidara is less skilled at close range fighting. Sauske, Naruto and Shino you should take Sasori, try and destroy his puppet with your Chidori and Rasengan and Shino try and get your bugs inside the puppet; we want to draw him out. So Hinata, Kiba and I will take the new one" Shikamaru sighed "Ready?" He looked around at the team most of them were nervously fiddling with their fingers. They nodded. "Okay then, good luck, and let's go" he said leaping into the trees.

They reached the clearing in no time, and stopped to take in the surroundings. Sasori and Deidara were slinging insults at each other; something about Sasori's puppet and Deidara's butt. The smaller figure really was small, her jet black hair was shoulder length and purposely messy. Sauske, rested his hand on the branch and made a small rustling sound, Shikamaru though that it could have passed as a light breeze passing through the leaves but the smallest one turned around and crouched down to the ground. There was a brief exchange of words and everything was silent. Shikamaru waved at TenTen and then pointed at the girl. She withdrew a Kunai and held it up to the moonlight, before throwing it directly at the girl. It missed by inches and when they looked up the girl was on a tree branch behind Sasori and Deidara. Shikamaru heard Naruto gulp next to him. "Okay, lets go!" he shouted.

**Forest** (**Akatsuki)**

"Okay, let's go!" shouted a distant and unfamiliar voice.

"Naoko! Just try to dodge their attacks until me or Sasori come and get you okay?" ordered Deidara, looking up at the girl. She nodded and looked around for the attackers. Sasori was holding his ground and dodging their attacks effortlessly, while Deidara was setting off explosives and trying to get away from two men who where coming at him in an endless stream of failed attacks. He wouldn't be able to hold out much longer and Naoko knew it, he had always been weak at close range combat. Naoko snapped out of her trail of thought as a huge white whirlwind came straight for her. She leapt out of the way as the tree was obliterated. She skidded along the floor, digging her fingers into the ground to try and stop herself. She turned just as a blackish blue haired girl punched her in the stomach.

"CHIDORI" shouted Sauske, lunging at Sasori. The puppet master blocked the attack with his tail just in time. Sauske withdrew and smiled as the second half of Sasori's tail fell to the floor with a thud.

Deidara fell on the floor from the force of the green ninja's last punch and quickly rolled back onto his feet, just to get hit again by his comrade's kunai.

Naoko leapt through the trees, swinging on the branches to dodge the wild ninja and his dog's attacks. They had been hot on her trail for the entire battle and she was beginning to get tired. The place on her stomach where the kunoichi had punched her felt hot and painful. She swung around on a tree trunk and ducked behind the leaves, slamming her back into the trunk and wincing as she grabbed her stomach. She looked up to see her pursuer crouching before her, looking right into her eyes. As soon as her hand moved to push herself off the tree he lunged at her, and missed by inches. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she darted through the trees, heading towards the light and noise of Deidara's explosions. The pursuer was tearing his way through the trees; the sound of his claws scratching the branches as he went filled her ears. 'Nearly there' she thought as a sharp, shooting pain shot through her ankle.

Deidara, had been cornered, and now the team that had been attacking him where closing in. The brown haired girl leapt into the air and hundreds of kunai were sent hurtling at him. A black blur leapt out from the trees and straight into the paths of the kunai. Naoko fell to the ground in front of Deidara and rolled into his legs. The Shinobi (who was now riding on the back of his hound) closely followed her and ducked, as two Kunai soared past his head. The girl got up and grabbed the sleeve of Deidara's cloak. "SASORI" roared Deidara, the puppet master leapt by their side, his puppet shaking unsteadily as he landed. The entire team of Konoha Nin's where closing in. As they drew closer three large clay spiders landed in front of them and they quickly retreated as the trees around them were blown to oblivion.

**Sorry it took so long, I was on holiday for two weeks and then I had writers block and had to re write this like five times and it still turned out pretty shit. Oh well, hope you like it anyway.**

**Please review******** (no flames please)**


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